Why are teens thinking of themselves as “fragile” — in need of protection against ideas that might be disturbing? Why are many of them not dating or driving or getting a job? Why are so many depressed, and why is the increase in depression so much higher in pre-teen girls? These are the questions Lukianoiff and Haidt were asking.
Haidt’s talk at the University of Colorado focuses on the university, but he shows how the problems at that level originate much earlier, particularly in two areas:
- Paranoid parenting
A big part of the problem is that teens never learn to deal with stress and to work through their own issues, because they have been over-protected. Parents are vastly over-protective. They are afraid their children might get hurt, so they must always be supervised (no unsupervised play). Children need to play on their own. There will be conflicts and failures. They will take risks, and they will get hurt. They need these experiences for mental health. If parents are always protecting them, they don’t learn to protect themselves.
2. Social media
But social media is the major cause for the spike in psychological disorders. Look at the timing:
- Millennials (the generation before Gen Z) weren’t on social media until they were in college. When social media started in 2002 Facebook was a place to connect with friends. It was a pretty nice place!
- Then in 2005 the “Like” button came to Facebook.
- The iPhone came in 2007, and high school students were on social media.
- Twitter’s “retweet” button was created in 2009. Its creator regrets building this feature.
- in 2009 pre-teen social life moved en masse on to social media. Pre-teens are on their phones all the time, every day. The Increase in depression and anxiety starts here.
Lynne saw this already in 2011.
Look also at the gender difference in levels of depression. Boys and girls both use social media, and both are equally aggressive. But they use social media differently, and they express aggression differently.
- Boys’ aggression tends to be physical, and they use social media to play aggressive games. But when the game is over, it’s over.
- Girls are more vulnerable to social comparison, and on social media popularity can be measured (the “Like” button). They express their aggression relationally, through outrage, shaming, and competition. Bullying can now take place 24/7, anonymously. Parents no longer have the oversight they could have with computers.
Social media is devastating for pre-teen girls
Consider also that this phenomenon is universal: a rise in levels of depression for both boys and girls but higher for girls and a dramatic spike for pre-teen girls — along with over-parenting and the expanding of social media. This has happened around the world at the same time. Social media is implicated.
What can be done?
To be continued
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